After being held prisoner for a week in her flat, Esther finally escaped to her mother, who didn’t recognise her daughter when she opened the door. Esther’s* relationship started with flowers, poems, and letters. Her new partner could not afford to lavish her with expensive gifts but would keep telling her she was a beautiful person and send her romantic lines he had found on the internet.
![[Esther says the combination of fear of her ex, and fear of being alone, kept her trapped in the relationship]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/09/12/15/Hands-1.jpg)
Very quickly, he made huge promises, telling her he loved her and encouraging her to give up her entire life and move to join him in London. In hindsight, she now recognises his behaviour as ‘love bombing’ – showering someone with grand gestures to win their trust and affection – but at the time, Esther was lured in due to previous failed relationships having left her vulnerable.
![[Esther says her ex would grow jealous about her being around male colleagues]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/09/12/15/Hands-3.jpg)
But her happiness soon turned to terror as her then-partner launched an eight-year campaign of violence, abuse and manipulation, leaving her too afraid to call the police. On one occasion, he stabbed her with a screwdriver – on another, he smashed her head with a bottle.
“It was great to start with,” she says. “It was amazing. Because of my upbringing, I think I just wanted to have the family dynamic because I was lacking love from some family members growing up.”. Esther says she had always wanted to have someone who loved her and was fully committed as soon as he said those three words.
